| OCR Text |
Show 224 The letters and journals of the explorers are replete with descriptions of this cave. To many of them it was the highlight of the expedition. The cave's length was variously reported by different individuals, but all the descriptions were similar. George W. Bean reported the discovery of a large cave having numerous smaller branches. The main cave is half a mile in length and varying in breadth from five to sixty feet. The smaller caves or branches are from ten feet to one hundred yards in length and from ten to twenty-five feet wide; they are from seven to twenty-five feet high. The first half is perfectly dry, the remainder have a damp clayey bottom. And we found three pools of water, cold but having a mineral taste.... There was also the track of a wild animal, supposed to be that of a wolverine. The air in most parts of tbe cave was good, but rather warm in some places. The entrance was about four feet high and six feet in breadth. Bean called this place Pockage Cave from the Indian word "pocket" meaning hole or cave. Martineau described the cave as having been explored "more than a mile without finding any sign of its end." It has hundreds of passages branching off in every direction. About 2 a mile from the entrance is a clear, cool spring of excellent water. It stands in a little pool. The roof of some of the appartments is so high that it could scarcely be perceived with 6 candles, and is ornamented most beautifully by thousands of stalactites and stalagmites.... The floor in many places is a peculiar reddish clay, with veins and spots of a bright red in it. There are tracks of some large animal plainly visible in the 12 damp clay, which resemble bear tracks. Martineau surmised that the clay on the cave floor contained mercury. Bean |
